


Dreaming of Perfection

by Chiaxxxd



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Cheating, Cussing, Death, Demons, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Marriage, Murder, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiaxxxd/pseuds/Chiaxxxd
Summary: The American Dream is a set of ideals that defined what was "perfect" in society. A nuclear family, financial security with respectable jobs, and a home with a white picket fence in the suburbs are what made up these ideals in the 1950s. Many people strive to achieve such pleasantries in life, such as Darlene.Darlene was the typical 1950s housewife and loving mother of 2 children. At an early age, her immigrant parents ingrained into her head that for her to be happy and live a better life, she must achieve the American Dream. After years into her marriage, Darlene felt that she was making progress in achieving these ideals. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes her family resulting in the loss of her children and a broken marriage. Darlene takes her life into her own hands, literally, and finds herself in Hell for her actions. When she hears about the Happy Hotel from the Princess of Hell, she hopes to reach Heaven to meet with her children. However, as she interacts more with the staff and tenants, she finds herself contradicting her ideals and what she wants, especially with a particular Radio Demon.
Relationships: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Dreaming of Perfection

“Order up!”

A plate with a soggy burger and questionable fries were placed on the opening food window which linked the diner’s kitchen with the serving counter. The dinging of a bell accompanied the chef’s calling.

Darlene scooped the plate from the window and walked up to one of the red leathered booths. The intended customer drooled as he stared at the plate of food as well as Darlene’s body as she made her way to his table. She placed it in front of the green lizard demon and put her hands on her hips.

“Oh dear, you’ve built up quite an appetite to be drooling that much!” Darlene commented to the demon patron. The reptilian customer looked up and down at Darlene to get a better look at her figure.

“Baby, if I had you for myself, I wouldn’t be hungry for a while!” The customer stuck out his split tongue and winked at Darlene. She smiled, pretending to not have heard the customer’s comment and returned back to her initial spot by the food window behind the counter.

Darlene knew she looked better looking than most of Hell’s hideous and disgusting population, but she detested crude and distasteful comments on how she presented herself.

She was approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall, but with the black heels she always wore, Darlene stood 5 feet 7 inches tall. She had a thin figure with moderately wide hips and a full chest. She was extremely pale, almost ghostly. Her black hair was styled in a 1950s fashion with side-swept curled bangs. The rest of her hair reached above her shoulders and was intensely curled away from her face. Her eyes had black sclera, bright yellow irises, and black pupils.

As with most demons in Hell, Darlene had her own set of animal characteristics. For her, it was in the form of a bat with black bat ears, bat wings, and a pair of sharp fangs. She wore pin-up style influenced makeup with bold cat-like eyeliner and bright red lipstick to match her uniform. Her diner work uniform which consisted of a red short-sleeved button-up shirt, a black knee-length skirt, and an apron. Darlene ensured that no hair strand was out of place, her makeup was on point, and her clothes were spotless to keep her appearance **_perfect_**.

“Whatta fuckin’ pig.” The chef looked through the window. He was an oversized brown bear demon with a greasy apron on. He looked disgruntled and annoyed by the demons that ate at his diner, “Then again, this is Hell. We’re surrounded by these hungry assholes. I can still kick him out if ya want, Darlene.”

Darlene kept her smile. She was used to keeping her emotions in control or at least pretending she was fine. Darlene clasped her hands together and turned her head to the chef.

“You are always so good to me, Patz! There’s no need to worry. You already know I can handle things myself.” Patz looked at Darlene’s face with brief concern and then shrugged his shoulders. He was slightly creeped out on how she can continue smiling.

“Okay, whatever you say. Oh yeah, have you been listenin’ to the shit the Princess of Hell’s been yappin’ about on T.V? Somethin’ about redemption. Miss High and Mighty’s new _‘passion project’_ sounds like a load of shit if ya ask me. But I dunno if ya interested. _’_ ’ He grunted and continued back to cooking.

“Redemption? What an ambitious idea!” The idea of redemption piqued her interest, so Darlene turned her attention to the hanging television hooked on the corner of the diner. A blonde young woman dressed in a white button-up with a black bow tie and red blazer paired with dark trousers and black suspenders appeared on the screen on the set of 666 News next to its two cohosts, Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench.

“Ladies and gentlemen. I’m opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!” The Princess of Hell hesitates, “You know because hotels are for people passing through...temporarily.” She sheepishly chuckles and shrinks in her seat.

Darlene continued to watch the rest of the Princess of Hell’s segment on the news station. Her musical performance amused Darlene as she had never witnessed such pure enthusiasm in an individual in her time in Hell. Not only was she entertained by the Princess but the concept of redemption to enter Heaven interested Darlene even more. The other demons in the diner, however, were not so interested in what the Princess had to offer as they exchanged spiteful comments and joked about how her project would be a failure and that no one in Hell would want to be redeemed.

Darlene gripped the piece of paper in her apron tightly. Her mind was lost in thought and intrigue on the thought of redemption.

“Order up!”

Darlene snapped out of her thoughts of the Princess’s passion project and was brought back to the reality of working at the diner. She took a mental note of this “Happy Hotel” and resumed her job as a waitress with a smile on her face.

\---

The shade of the Hell’s red sky transitioned from its bright daytime hue to a darker crimson, indicating nighttime. Patz and Darlene stood outside the diner doors wearing their jackets and hats to protect themselves from the Hell’s surprisingly cold evenings. Darlene felt troubled with herself as she kept thinking about the redemption project the Princess was advertising before. Despite the self-conflict, she continued to smile but that did not fool Patz.

“You’re considerin’ it, aren’t ya?” Patz flipped through his keychain to find the right key to lock up the doors.

“Considering what, Patz?” Darlene tilted her head to the side while looking at Patz. After Patz was able to lock up the doors, he took out his cigarettes and sighed.

“Ya know what I mean. That bullshit hotel thing from the Princess.” He lit up a cigarette, “Ya thinkin’ about it, aren’t ya?”

Darlene smiled softly. She had known Patz ever since she had landed in Hell. They developed a close relationship in which it seemed impossible for them to not know what was making the other upset, especially when Darlene confided to Patz of her life before she came to Hell. Patz played the older brother role in her afterlife that she was always grateful for.

“Look.” Patz turned back to her and points at her with his lit cigarette,” Ya gotta do whatch ya gotta do, alright? I’ll give ya some time off so ya can deal with this shit.” He took another drag of his cigarette, “I know how much ya miss em.” He shifted in his stance and scratched the back of his head, “And if things don’t, uhh, work out. You’re always welcomed back. So yeah. I, uhh-”

Darlene hugged Patz, interrupting him mid-sentence. Darlene pulled back from her hug, revealing Patz’s blushed face.

“You always know what I’m thinking, Patz.” Darlene gripped onto her jacket before glancing up at the 7-foot bear, “I’m going to check them out tomorrow. Hopefully, it won’t be a disaster like their broadcast performance.” She chuckled before silence dominated the conversation.

Darlene was internally overwhelmed with the concept of redemption. Patz was self-conflicted in letting Darlene go and potentially be gone for a while. After a moment, Patz broke the silence.

“We better get goin’ before the even weirder weirdos come out of hidin’.”

“Of course!” Darlene giggled. She turned to leave to her apartment but looked back at Patz. She gave him another surprise hug. Patz’s face reddened once more.

“I’ll be sure to come by when I can.” Darlene began walking away from Patz and the diner. Patz stared at Darlene’s walking figure and sighed once more.

“Don’t hurt yourself more with this.”

\---

Darlene shut the entrance door of her apartment closed before falling onto her hands and knees. Her perfectly curled hair fell flat down her shoulders. The smile she had throughout the day turned upside down. Her **_perfect_** appearance unraveled after putting up such a façade under today’s stress. Darlene took out the piece of paper that was in her apron to reveal a photograph.

The photograph had been with Darlene since her time in her living life. It was somehow able to stay with her ever since her arrival in Hell as she died holding onto it. The photograph was of a Christmas family portrait consisting of her, her 3-year-old daughter, and her 6-year-old son.

Darlene was holding her daughter while her son stood next to them on the left side of the photo. Behind her son was a man. However, the portion of the photograph of where the man’s body should be was torn off, making it unrecognizable of who was standing in the photo but can only be implied to be someone insignificant to her.

Everyone in the photo was smiling and appeared to be happy. Darlene’s human appearance was slightly different than in its current form. She was still pale in the photo but had more pigment in her skin. Instead of her demon form’s intense curls, her black hair was cut in a slightly wavy bob just above her shoulders. Her almond-shaped eyes were chocolate brown and shined brightly. In the photo, she wore a white button-up shirt with a maroon cardigan and a dark brown long skirt.

Her daughter was held at Darlene’s hip. She had her mother’s dark hair, but long and pulled up into ponytails. She wore a maroon dress and black mary jane shoes. Her son had dark brown hair that was swept to one side of his face. He wore also wore a white button-up long-sleeved shirt but with a dark green vest and dark brown slacks. The children shared their mother’s eye color and were filled with innocence and purity.

Darlene brought the photo closer to her chest while still kneeling on the floor. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks in despair.

“My darlings, I hope I get to see you one day.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~
> 
> I hope this wasn't too cringey to read. It's been years since I've written fanfic! I've been pretty hooked on Hazbin Hotel recently to the point of making an OC and actually wanting to write them into the Hazbin Hotel Universe.
> 
> Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts! I'll try to update as much as I can when my schedule is open~


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